TWI649673B - System, device and method for auditing operation of device - Google Patents

Abstract

In some embodiments, an auditable device like an auditable camera is provided. The auditable device maintains digitally signed and stored audit trail data on the device until it can be uploaded to the evidence management system. When the inexhaustible data link to the evidence management system is available, the auditable device can send a record of the emergency to the evidence management system. Sending emergency and digital signature audit trail data via random data connections helps overcome technical obstacles in establishing provable and reliable data collection, while minimizing power consumption by auditable devices.

Description

System, device and method for auditing operation of device

The invention relates to a system and method for generating an audit trail for an auditable device.

Existing systems for collecting digital video data from wearable cameras have excessive technical disadvantages, especially when used in a law enforcement environment. Wearable cameras for law enforcement require long battery life to last the entire shift. However, activities performed with such cameras are monitored to ensure that a series of surveillances of any video recorded by the camera can be established and to ensure that any video recorded by the camera is eventually uploaded to the evidence management system for storage Also ideal. Because the camera requires minimal power consumption and has only inexhaustible connectivity to the evidence management system (if there is any), technical obstacles exist in moving from a wearable camera in a way that can provide reliable chain monitoring information while maintaining battery life. Collecting information.

This summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form that are further described below in the detailed description. This summary is not intended to identify key features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used as an aid in determining the scope of the requested subject matter.

In some embodiments, an auditable camera is provided. Auditable cameras include video sensors, video data storage areas, audit trail data storage areas, audit trail collection engines, and audit trail reporting engines. The video data storage area is configured to store video data collected by a video sensor. The audit trail data storage area is configured to store groups of audit event entries. The audit trail collection engine is configured to respond to receiving notifications of events reported by components of the auditable camera, and to record auditable event items, which represent events in the audit trail data storage area. The audit trail reporting engine is configured to transmit one or more auditable event items from the audit trail data storage area to the evidence management system.

In some embodiments, a coordinator computing device is provided. The coordinator computing device includes a short-range wireless interface, a long-range wireless interface, an auditable device communication engine, and a system communication engine. The auditable device communication engine is configured to establish a short-range communication channel between the coordinator computing device and the auditable device via a short-range wireless interface; and to receive auditable event items from the auditable device via the short-range communication channel. The system communication engine is configured to establish a long-range communication channel between the coordinator computing device and the evidence management system via a long-range wireless interface; and transmit the auditable event items to the evidence management system via the long-range communication channel.

In some embodiments, an evidence management system is provided. certificate The data management system includes a video data storage area, an audit trail data storage area, and at least one computing device, which is configured to provide a data collection engine. The video data storage area is configured to store video data received from a plurality of wearable cameras. The audit trail data storage area is configured to store a plurality of auditable event items collected by a plurality of wearable cameras. The data collection engine is configured to receive video data from the plurality of wearable cameras and store the video data in the video data storage area; and configured to receive auditable event items generated by the plurality of wearable cameras and store the auditable events Items are stored in the audit trail data storage area.

100‧‧‧ system

90‧‧‧ Internet

92‧‧‧ users

94‧‧‧ Vehicle

102‧‧‧Evidence Management System

104‧‧‧Evidence Collection Base

106‧‧‧ auditable camera

107‧‧‧Coordinator computing device

108‧‧‧ Auditable weapons

110‧‧‧light bar sensor

202‧‧‧Video Sensor

204‧‧‧ Camera Control Engine

206‧‧‧Audio Sensor

208‧‧‧ physical human-machine interface device

210‧‧‧ Audit trail signature engine

212‧‧‧ Audit trail reporting engine

214‧‧‧ Audit trail collection engine

216‧‧‧ Audit trail data storage area

218‧‧‧Voucher data storage area

222‧‧‧Video data storage area

224‧‧‧Audio data storage area

226‧‧‧Long-range wireless interface

228‧‧‧Short range wireless interface

230‧‧‧ clock

232‧‧‧Solid base interface

234‧‧‧Battery sensor

236‧‧‧ Battery

238‧‧‧ Motion Sensor

302‧‧‧ human-machine interface device

304‧‧‧Human Machine Interface Engine

306‧‧‧Short range wireless interface

308‧‧‧ Auditable Device Communication Engine

310‧‧‧Long Range Wireless Interface

312‧‧‧system communication engine

314‧‧‧GPS sensor

700‧‧‧ Computing Device

702‧‧‧ processor

704‧‧‧system memory

706‧‧‧Communication Bus

708‧‧‧Storage media

710‧‧‧Interface

When adopted in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, the foregoing aspects of the present invention and many of the accompanying benefits will become easier to understand as they become better understood by reference to the following detailed description, of which: Figure 1 is based on this The high-level schematic diagram of the communication between various components of the exemplary embodiment of the disclosed exemplary embodiment system; FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating the components of the exemplary embodiment of the auditable camera according to the various aspects of the disclosure; FIG. 3 FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a coordinator computing device according to various aspects of the present disclosure; FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an evidence management system according to various aspects of the present disclosure; FIGS. 5A-5B are A flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method for auditing camera activity according to various aspects of the present disclosure; 6 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method for managing collected audit trail data according to various aspects of the disclosure; and FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary computing device 700 suitable for use as the computing device of the disclosure Aspect-like block diagram.

The embodiments of the present disclosure solve the technical problems introduced above and other problems. In some embodiments, an auditable device like an auditable camera is provided. The auditable device retains the digitally signed audit trail data stored on the device until it can be uploaded to the evidence management system. When exhaustive data connections to the evidence management system are available, the auditable device transmits emergency records to the evidence management system, so that despite the lack of continuous data connectivity to the device, the evidence management system is notified to anticipate the Further information on event correlation. By using these and other techniques, the technical problems described above can be overcome.

FIG. 1 is a high-level schematic diagram illustrating communication between various components of an exemplary embodiment of a system according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the system 100 is configured to allow audit information to be collected from a plurality of auditable devices. The audit information is generated by the auditable devices while they are being operated, and the information is collected by the evidence management system 102.

Generally speaking, users 92, such as law enforcement police, may carry one or more auditable devices. The device may include, but is not limited to, an auditable camera 106, an auditable weapon 108, and a light bar sensor 110. The auditable camera 106 may be, for example, a wearable camera that records video when activated and / Or audio data, and store a record of the auditable events that occurred (such as the beginning of the record, the end of the record, various device failures, and / or the like and as explained further below). The auditable weapon 108 may be, for example, a conductive energy weapon (CEW) that records firing events, cartridge loading, holster removal, and / or the like. The light bar sensor 110 can detect the activation of a light bar on the vehicle 94, which is usually associated with an emergency situation. Other auditable devices, such as a dashboard camera and a heart rate sensor, are also included in the system 100 but are not illustrated in FIG. 1.

In some embodiments, the auditable device may have limited communication functionality. For example, when physically connected to an evidence collection dock 104 communicating with the evidence management system 102 via a broadband network 90 such as a LAN, WAN, and / or the Internet, the auditable device may only Can send information to the evidence management system 102. Accordingly, technical problems arise when trying to obtain verifiably complete audit information in the communication path between the evidence management system 102 and the auditable device without a reliable, always-on.

In some embodiments, an ad-hoc communication path between the auditable device and the evidence management system 102 may be created via the coordinator computing device 107. The coordinator computing device 107 is illustrated as a smartphone computing device, but in some embodiments may be a laptop computing device, a tablet computing device, or any other device that can be carried by the user 92 or a vehicle 94 associated with the user 92 A suitable computing device including and capable of performing the operations described herein. Coordinator computing device 107 and auditable device Communication and can also use Bluetooth, ZigBee, IrDA, ANT, ANT +, 802.15.4, near-field communication (NFC), radio frequency identifier (RFID) Other devices communicate, such as the light bar sensor 110 of the vehicle 94 associated with the user 92. In some embodiments, the auditable camera 106 may receive data directly from other auditable devices such as the auditable weapon 108 or the light bar sensor 110 in order to improve the auditable event items collected by the auditable camera 106.

Although the communication path between the coordinator computing devices 107 may be unreliable, may exhaust the battery performance too much to be constantly enabled, or may be a relatively low bandwidth, the coordinator computing device 107 can communicate with the evidence management system 102 . As such, the communication of information from the coordinator computing device 107 to the evidence management system 102 may be sporadic and may only transmit a subset of the information collected by the auditable device or audited on the auditable device. Further aspects of these devices and their capabilities are discussed below.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating components of an exemplary embodiment of an auditable camera according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the auditable camera 106 is a wearable camera that provides a viewpoint associated with the user 92. In some embodiments, the auditable camera 106 may be attached to another device, such as a weapon, carried by the user 92.

As with any camera, the auditable camera 106 includes at least a video sensor 202 and may also include an audio sensor 206. The data collected by the video sensor 202 and the audio sensor 206 can be stored in the video data storage area 222 and the audio data storage area 224, respectively. In some embodiments, audio and video information are stored together in a single data storage area and / or in a combined data file. One example of a suitable video sensor is a charge-coupled device (CCD), although any other digital image sensor can be used, such as a complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) Sensor, active pixel sensor or any other type of digital image sensor instead. Any type of microphone can be used as the audio sensor 206.

As understood by those of ordinary skill in the art, the "data store" described herein may be any suitable device configured to store data for access by a computing device. An example of a data repository suitable for use with the high capacity needs of the evidence management system 102 is a highly reliable, high-speed relational database management system (RDBMS), which performs one or more calculations. Runs on the device and can be accessed over a high-speed network. However, any other suitable storage technology and / or device capable of providing stored data quickly and reliably in response to an inquiry may be used, such as a key-value store, an object database And / or the like. Further, for the evidence management system 102, the computing device providing the data storage area may be locally accessible instead of being on the network, or may be configured as a cloud-based service. The data storage area may also include data stored on a computer-readable storage medium in an organized manner as described further below. Suitable for the needs of auditable cameras 106 and coordinator computing devices 107 (which include reliable storage but also low cost) An example of a data storage area that is used together is a file system or database management system, which uses a file (or record) to store data on a computer-readable medium, such as flash memory, random access memory RAM (random access memory), hard drive and / or the like. Without departing from the scope of the present disclosure, those skilled in the art will recognize that the separate data storage areas described herein may be combined into a single data storage area and / or the single data storage area described herein may be divided into Multiple data storage areas.

The auditable camera 106 includes a group of engines including a camera control engine 204, an audit trail signature engine 210, an audit trail collection engine 214, and an audit trail reporting engine 212. In general, the term "engine" as used herein refers to logic embedded in hardware or software instructions that can be written in a programming language such as C, C ++, COBOL, JAVA ^TM , PHP, Perl, HTML, CSS, JavaScript, VBScript, ASPX, Microsoft.NET ^™ (like C #), and / or the like. The engine can be compiled into an executable program or written in an interpreted programming language. Engines can be callable from other engines or from themselves. Generally, the engines described herein refer to logic modules that can be merged with other engines or applications or can be divided into sub-engines. The engine can be stored in any type of computer-readable medium or computer storage device, and stored on and executed by one or more general purpose computers, so a configuration is created to provide Special purpose computer for the engine. Accordingly, the devices and systems described herein include one or more computing devices configured to provide the engine described, although the computing device itself is not illustrated in each case for the sake of brevity.

The camera control engine 204 is configured to cause the auditable camera 106 to perform camera functions. For example, the camera control engine 204 may cause the video sensor 202 and the audio sensor 206 to start acquiring data, and after receiving the data from the sensor, the video and / or audio data may be stored in the video data storage area 222 and / Or audio data storage area 224. The camera control engine 204 may receive commands to start, pause, or stop the video recorded from the physical user interface device 208, or respond to some other component of the self-auditing camera 106, such as the battery sensor 234, The clock 230, the motion sensor 238, the short-range wireless interface 228, and / or the like receive signals automatically start, pause, or stop video recording. The camera control engine 204 may also change the configuration of the video sensor 202 and the video sensor 202 based on configuration settings received via the physical human-machine interface device 208, via the short-range wireless interface 228, via the physical base interface 232, or by any other suitable technology. / Or settings on the audio sensor 206, such as image quality, white balance settings, gain, and / or any other common video or audio recording settings. Any type of physical human-machine interface device 208 capable of transmitting commands to the camera control engine 204 may be used, including but not limited to a button switch, a toggle switch, a slide switch, a touch switch, and / or the like By.

In some embodiments, the camera control engine 204 may report the start, pause, or stop of video recording and settings for the video sensor 202 and the audio sensor 206 (when an auditable event to the audit trail collection guide) Engine 214 hours). In some embodiments, the camera control engine 204 embeds the sensor configuration information along with other information about the status of the auditable camera 106 or other information received via a short-range wireless interface about other auditable devices into the video data stored The data in the storage area 222 and / or the audio data storage area 224 is used to prevent extra information from separating from the video and / or audio data.

The auditable camera 106 also includes an audit trail data storage area 216 for storing records of auditable events and a certificate data store 218 for storage of data that can be used for digital signatures. The audit trail collection engine 214 is configured to receive reports of auditable events from other components of the auditable camera 106, and is configured to record auditable event records, which represent events in the audit trail data storage area 216. The audit trail signature engine 210 is configured to use one or more signature certificates from the credential data storage area 218 for applying a digital signature to the auditable event records in the audit trail data storage area 216. The audit trail reporting engine 212 is configured to transmit audit trail information from the audit trail data storage area 216 directly to the evidence management system via the long-range wireless interface 226 or the physical base interface 232 or via the short-range wireless interface 228 and the coordinator computing device 107. 102. Further details of the functionality of these components are provided below.

The auditable camera 106 also includes several general components, including a clock 230, a motion sensor 238, a physical base interface 232, a battery sensor 234, and a battery 236. The clock 230 may be provided by the audit trail collection engine 214, the audit trail reporting engine 212, the camera control engine 204, or Any other component of the camera 106 can be audited for use to include timestamp information in the generated data. A motion sensor 238, such as a multi-axis accelerometer, also generates information that can be used by other components. For example, the audit trajectory acquisition engine 214 may use the motion sensor 238 to detect a certain type of motion, such as running, falling, and / or the like, and treat the detected motion as an auditable event.

The physical base interface 232 is configured to mate with a physical connector on the evidence collection base 104. In some embodiments, the physical base interface 232 may include a female 2.5mm socket that mates with a male 2.5mm plug of the evidence collection base 104. Once docked, the auditable camera 106 may then transmit the data to the evidence management system 102 via a connection using any suitable data transmission protocol. In some embodiments, power may be transmitted to the auditable camera 106 via the physical base interface 232 instead of or in addition to data transmission. In some embodiments, other connection hardware can be used that can provide both power and data connectivity, such as a USB connector, a Firewire connector, and / or the like.

The battery sensor 234 and the battery 236 are examples of internal systems that can generate auditable events captured by the audit trail collection engine 214 without user intervention. For example, the battery sensor 234 may detect a low battery state, a battery overheating state, and / or the like, and may generate an alarm to be registered as an auditable event by the audit trail collection engine. Other well-known internal device systems, such as file system controllers, free-fall sensors, and / or the like can similarly generate alarms to be registered as auditable events, but are not described here .

The auditable camera 106 also includes an optional long-range wireless interface 226 and an optional short-range wireless interface 228. The long-range wireless interface 226 may use any suitable network technology capable of establishing a wireless data connection from the audit camera 106 to the evidence management system 102 from any geographic area, including but not limited to 3G, 4G, LTE, and / or the like. The short-range wireless interface 228 may use any suitable wireless network technology capable of establishing a wireless data connection to the coordinator computing device 107 while within the coordinator computing device 107, including but not limited to Bluetooth, Buzz, NFC, and / or Similar. These wireless interfaces are described as optional, as some embodiments may lack one or two interfaces. For example, in some embodiments, only communications performed by the auditable camera 106 may pass through the physical base interface 232. As another example, in some embodiments, only the short-range wireless interface 228 may appear, so the audit camera 106 may only be able to communicate with evidence management through the coordinator computing device 107 via the physical base interface 232 or via the short-range wireless interface 228. The system 102 communicates.

Although FIG. 2 illustrates the components of a camera, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that excluding the components of a camera that image the device are the video sensor 202, the audio sensor 206, and the associated data storage area Similar components may be included in the auditable weapon 108 or some other type of auditable device.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a coordinator computing device according to various aspects of the present disclosure. As stated, the coordinator computing device 107 that may be a smart phone or any other suitable computing device as stated above includes a short-range wireless interface 306, a long-range wireless interface 310 and GPS sensor 314. The short-range wireless interface 306 is configured to allow the components of the coordinator computing device 107 to communicate with other nearby components of the system 100 when they are within range, including auditable cameras such as the auditable camera 106 and the auditable weapon 108 Device and light bar sensor 110 of vehicle 94. The short-range wireless interface 306 may use one or more short-range wireless network technologies relative to those of the auditable cameras 106 as discussed above in order to provide these communication paths. The long range wireless interface 310 is configured to allow the coordinator computing device 107 to communicate with the evidence management system 102. As long as the coordinator computing device 107 is within the service area corresponding to the long range wireless data service, the long range wireless device 310 looks like 3G, 4G, LTE and / or the like. The GPS sensor 314 is configured to obtain the coordinator computing device 107 using satellite signals, triangulation of a cellular phone tower, or any other technique known to one of ordinary skill in the art. Geographical location.

The coordinator computing device 107 also includes one or more human-machine interface devices 302, a human-machine interface engine 304, an auditable device communication engine 308, and a system communication engine 312. One or more human-machine interface devices 302 may include, but are not limited to, physical buttons, status lights, displays, touch screen displays, loudspeakers, and / or the like. The human-machine interface engine 304 is configured to present an interactive interface to the user 92 and receives input from the user 92 via the human-machine interface device 302. Interactive interface allows users 92 to control auditable devices, add information to auditable events, generate auditable events, manually initiate upload of emergency auditable events to the evidence management system 102 and / or adopt system 100 Within other actions. The auditable device communication engine 308 manages communication with the auditable device via the short-range wireless interface 306, and the system communication engine 312 manages communication with the evidence management system 102. Further details of the functionality of the components of the coordinator computing device 107 are provided below.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment of an evidence management system according to various aspects of the present disclosure. In some embodiments, the evidence management system 102 includes a plurality of computing devices configured to provide the components described, although for simplicity they are described as a single system. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that any suitable servo system such as a single server, server farm, cloud service, and / or the like may be used to provide the evidence management system 102. Feature.

As illustrated, the evidence management system 102 includes a computer aid distribution system interface 406, a records management system interface 408, and a network interface 422. The computer-aided dispatch system interface 406 enables the evidence management system 102 to communicate with one or more computer-aided dispatch (CAD) systems 402 operated by other parties. This communication allows the evidence management system 102 to automatically import information from the CAD system 402, such as an incident code, the location of the user 92 or the vehicle 94 at a given time, and / or the like. This information may then be correlated with or otherwise used to enhance the information received from the auditable device. The records management system interface 408 enables the evidence management system 102 to communicate with one or more records management systems 404 operated by other parties. This communication also allows the evidence management system 102 to automatically introduce information, such as case numbers and / or the like. Records management system interface 408 The information provided by the evidence management system 102 returns to the record management system 404, which includes, but is not limited to, links to information stored in the video data storage area 412, audio data storage area 414, and / or audit trail data storage area 416; stored in the audit Copy of audit trail information in the trail data storage area 416; and / or the like.

The evidence management system 102 also includes an auditable device data storage area 410, a video data storage area 412, an audio data storage area 414, and an audit trail data storage area 416. The auditable device data storage area 410 may be configured to store information associated with each of the auditable devices of the system 100. For example, for a given auditable camera 106, the auditable device data storage area 410 may store an identifier (like a badge, such as a unique device identifier) of the user 92 associated with the auditable camera 106 at a given time or date Number or the like), the performance of the auditable camera 106 and / or the like. The video data storage area 412 and the audio data storage area 414 are configured to store data captured by the one or more auditable cameras 106 or other devices capable of capturing audio and / or video data and registered with the system 100. In some embodiments, the video data storage area 412 and the audio data storage area 414 are combined into a single data storage area, and the audio and video data recorded simultaneously can be stored together in a single file. The audit trail data storage area 416 stores a record of auditable events detected by the auditable device of the system 100, as described further below.

The evidence management system 102 also includes a data collection engine 418 and a human-machine interface engine 420. The data collection engine 418 is configured to receive from the auditable device via the evidence collection base 104 and the coordinator computing device 107 Audit trail information, video data and audio data. The human-machine interface engine 420 is configured to generate and present a human-machine interface for display and interact with data collected by the evidence management system 102 via a web page, an application program interface, or other suitable technology. Each of the interface and engine of the evidence management system 102 is configured to use a network interface 422 for communicating with other components of the system 100 via the Internet. Further explanation of the actions taken by the components of the evidence management system 102 is provided below.

5A-5B are flowcharts illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method for auditing camera activities according to various aspects of the disclosure. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that although methods of auditing camera activity are described and illustrated, other devices that detect events (such as auditable weapons 108, light bar sensors 110, and / or the like) also Similar methods can be used for auditing, although for this type of device, no action may be taken regarding the transmission of video and / or audio data.

From the start block, the method 500 proceeds to block 502, where the audit trail collection engine 214 of the auditable camera 106 detects the disconnection of the auditable camera 106 from the physical base interface 232. In some embodiments, when the physical base interface 232 is electrically disconnected from the evidence collection base 104, the physical base interface 232 sends a signal to the audit trail collection engine 214 to notify it of the disconnect event. Next, at block 504, the audit trail collection engine 214 creates an auditable event item in the audit trail data storage area 216 of the auditable camera 106, which indicates that the auditable camera 106 has been undocked.

In some embodiments, particularly where the user 92 is a Law enforcement official, the disengagement of an auditable event item may indicate the start of a movement and the related start of an audit activity regarding the movement. In some embodiments, the audit trail data storage area 216 may be emptied after the previously recorded information has been transmitted to the evidence management system 102 (as described further below), so in this regard, the audit event indicating the start of the movement The item indication may be only an auditable event item in the audit trail data storage area 216.

The method 500 then proceeds to block 508, where the audit trail collection engine 214 receives a signal indicating an auditable event. This signal may be received from another component of the auditable camera 106, such as a camera control engine 204, a battery sensor 234, a physical human-machine interface device 208, a physical base interface 232, or any other component. This signal can indicate any of a variety of auditable events. Events include, but are not limited to: start recording event, stop recording event, pause recording event, button press event, battery or other hardware failure, battery charge critical event, storage error, free storage threshold event, via The interaction or connection state of the wireless interface changes, the interaction or connection state changes through the physical base interface 232, physical motion events, lack of physical motion events (i.e., the auditable camera 106 has remained unchanged for a given amount of time), Environmental events such as changes in ambient temperature or humidity that cross a critical value, geofence events, drop events, and debug events.

At block 510, the audit trail collection engine 214 creates an auditable event item in the audit trail data storage area 216. In some real In an embodiment, the auditable event items include information identifying the type of event (such as a numeric event type identifier, an event type string, and / or the like), and may include further information associated with the event. As a few non-limiting examples, the hardware fault auditable event items can include the fault type and fault code; start recording events can include camera settings such as exposure, F-stop, frame rate, and / or the like ; Battery failure events can also indicate the type of battery failure and so on. In some embodiments, the audit trail collection engine 214 may proactively obtain other information to include in the auditable event items that cannot be taken solely from the information included in the signal. As a few non-limiting examples, the audit trail collection engine 214 itself can obtain the time stamps from the clock 230 for inclusion in the auditable event item; the audit trail collection engine 214 can use the short-range wireless interface 228 to calculate the device from the coordinator 107 Obtain GPS information to be included in the auditable event item or metadata entered by the user, and so on.

At optional block 512, data associated with events obtained by one or more sensors of the auditable camera 106 are stored in one or more data storage areas 222, 224 of the auditable camera 106 and are associated with Audit event item association. For example, if the event is to start recording an event, then the data obtained by the camera control engine 204 from the video sensor 202 can be stored in the video data storage area 222, and / or the camera control engine 204 can sense the audio The data obtained by the device 206 can be stored in the audio data storage area 224. In order to associate the stored data with the auditable event items, the unique identifier of the auditable event item may be stored together with the video or audio data, and / or the unique identifier of the video and / or audio data may be stored Stored in auditable event items. The action described with reference to block 512 is optional, because certain events, such as a battery failure, may be unrelated to the data recorded to be stored in one of the data storage areas 222, 224.

At block 514, the audit trail signature engine 210 of the auditable camera 106 applies a digital signature to the auditable event item. In some embodiments, applying a digital signature uses a cryptographic hash to ensure that the auditable event item has not been altered or corrupted since it was signed. For example, in a non-limiting embodiment, the evidence management system 102 may assign a private key to the auditable camera 106, which is stored in the credential data when the auditable camera 106 is connected via the physical base interface 232 In storage area 218. The private key is used by the audit trail signature engine 210 to create an encrypted hash of the auditable event item, which is then added to the auditable event item to sign it. Subsequently, an available public key made by the evidence management system 102 can be used to verify that the auditable event item has not been tampered with since it was signed. In some embodiments, the cryptographic hash may be stored elsewhere, such as in the credential data storage area 218, and may simply be associated with an auditable event item instead of being added to it. In some embodiments, the audit trail signature engine 210 may use similar techniques to sign the data stored in the video data storage area 222 and the audio data storage area 224. In some embodiments, a signature generated for video and / or audio data may be added to the auditable event item before signing the auditable event. In some embodiments, another suitable technique for applying a digital signature that ensures that the data has not been altered or destroyed is used in place of the techniques described above.

In some embodiments, the actions described with respect to block 514 may be performed in response to the creation of an auditable event item as illustrated. In some embodiments, the actions described with reference to block 514 may be performed instead, such as in response to a request to transmit an auditable event item to the evidence management system 102. Waiting for a signature until shortly before uploading can help preserve battery life, just as signatures for many information processes can be delayed until the auditable camera 106 is coupled to the evidence collection base 104 and thus receives power.

I will note that if the identifier or signature of the video and / or audio data is stored in the auditable event item before the signature is applied to the auditable event item, then the signature ensures that the auditable event item cannot be tampered with to refer to Different videos, and video / audio materials cannot be replaced with obsolete signatures. According to this, despite the inexhaustible connectivity, it is possible to overcome the technical problem of how to uncontestably associate the recorded video with a lightweight log of the actions performed by the auditable camera 106.

In this regard, in the method 500, the storage of the auditable event items in the audit trail data storage area 216 is completed. In most cases, the method 500 then loops back and waits for subsequent auditable events, although there are two special cases in which the method 500 performs additional processing or leaves the loop instead of simply looping back. Accordingly, the method 500 proceeds to decision block 516 where a determination is made as to whether the auditable event instructed the auditable camera 106 to be placed on the evidence collection base 104. As with the disconnect event described above with reference to block 502, this can be detected by the electrical connection done via the physical base interface 232, and accordingly the physical base interface 232 provides a signal to the audit trail collection engine 214. If the result of the determination in decision block 516 is YES, then the method 500 proceeds to a persistent terminal ("terminal B").

From terminal B (FIG. 5B), the method 500 proceeds to block 526, where the audit trail reporting engine 212 transmits the contents of the audit trail data storage area 216 to the data collection of the evidence management system 102 via the physical base interface 232 and the evidence collection base 104 Engine 418. In some embodiments, the evidence collection base 104 may include memory, a processor, and network hardware configured to enable the evidence collection base 104 to download the contents of the audit trail data storage area 216 from the auditable camera 106 and This content is then used to upload the content to the data collection engine 418 via the network 90 using any suitable data transmission technology.

At block 528, in response to receiving an acknowledgement receipt from the evidence management system 102, the audit trail collection engine 214 clears the contents of the audit trail data storage area 216. The waiting confirmation receipt ensures that the audit trail data has been received by the evidence management system 102 and successfully stored before it is emptied from the auditable camera 106. In some embodiments, the evidence management system 102 may provide a confirmation receipt for the entire content of the audit trail storage area 216. In some embodiments, the evidence management system 102 may provide a confirmation slip for a subset of the uploaded data. For example, data can be uploaded from the audit trail data storage area 216 in a chronological order, and the evidence management system 102 transmits confirmation slips for each individual segment of the content. Subsequently, once its corresponding confirmation slip is received, each segment of the content will be retrieved from the auditable camera 106 deleted. Such embodiments would allow uploads to be interrupted and allow the auditable camera 106 to be reused without losing any of the data already stored on the auditable camera 106.

At optional block 530, the auditable camera 106 transmits the contents of the other data storage area of the auditable camera 106 to the evidence management system 102 via the physical base interface 232. For example, the auditable camera 106 may transmit data (if any) from the video data storage area 222 and / or the audio data storage area 224 to the evidence management system 102. The action associated with block 530 is described as optional, because in some embodiments there may not be any such data, especially if method 500 is used with an auditable device that excludes auditable camera 106, such as auditable Weapon 108. In some embodiments, the action of block 530 may occur before the action of block 526. In some embodiments, the confirmation slip may also be generated by the evidence management system 102 for the video / audio data, and receiving the confirmation slip may cause the auditable camera 106 to delete the copy of the audio / video data it transmitted. The method 500 then proceeds to an end block and terminates.

Returning to decision block 516 (FIG. 5A), if the result of the decision as to whether the event indicates that the auditable camera 106 is connected to the physical base is NO, then the method 500 proceeds to another decision block 518, where an auditable event is made Whether it is an emergency. An emergency is a type of auditable event that the system 100 is configured to ensure that the evidence management system 102 is made to detect as quickly as possible, even before the auditable device returns to the evidence collection base 104. This functional pair ensures that It is useful that the piece of associated data is eventually uploaded to the evidence management system 102 and is not forgotten to the contrary. An example of an emergency may be a start recording event, and an example of a non-emergency event may be a battery failure event. If the system 100 is configured to consider recording the event as an emergency, then the evidence management system 102 will be notified each time the recording starts with the auditable camera 106, even if the associated video and / or audio is not uploaded to the evidence management System 102. This information can be used in many ways, including prompting the user 92 to dock the auditable camera 106 for uploading lost videos, providing instructions for all incident-related videos or data tracks uploaded during a given time period, and / or the like By.

If the result of the decision at decision block 518 is no and the auditable event is not an emergency, then method 500 proceeds to a persistent terminal ("terminal A"), and upon receiving a subsequent signal indicating the auditable event, that is, from the terminal A returns to block 508. Otherwise, if the result of the decision at decision block 518 is yes, then the method 500 proceeds to another persistent terminal ("terminal C").

From terminal C (FIG. 5B), the method 500 proceeds to block 520, where the audit trail reporting engine 212 of the auditable camera 106 initiates a connection to the coordinator computing device 107 via the short-range wireless interface 228 of the auditable camera 106. In some embodiments, the audit trail reporting engine 212 uses a short-range wireless interface 228 to establish a wireless connection to the coordinator computing device 107. In some embodiments, a wireless connection to the coordinator computing device 107 may be available, and the audit trail reporting engine 212 happens to use an existing connection.

At block 522, the audit trail reporting engine 212 transmits the auditable event items to the coordinator computing device 107 via the short-range wireless interface 228. Next, at block 524, the coordinator computing device 107 transmits the auditable event items to the data collection engine 418 of the evidence management system 102 via the long-range wireless interface 310 of the coordinator computing device 107.

In some embodiments, if an action cannot be performed immediately, one or more of the actions described in blocks 520-524 may be performed when an opportunity to do so occurs. For example, once an emergency is detected, the auditable camera 106 may not be within the short-range wireless communication range of the coordinator computing device 107. In such a situation, the audit trail reporting engine 212 may wait for a notification from the short-range wireless interface 228, and it has returned within range before proceeding. An example of this would be if the user 92 leaves the vehicle 94 and the coordinator computing device 107 remains in the vehicle 94. Once the user 92 returns to the vehicle 94, the communication channel to the coordinator computing device 107 will be opened, or returned to a position close to the vehicle 94 within a short range wireless communication range. As another example, in some embodiments, the long-range wireless interface 310 of the coordinator computing device 107 may be 3G, 4G, LTE, or other wireless networks with wide geographic coverage, so that the coordinator computing device 107 The connection to the evidence management system 102 is typically maintained. However, even with wide geographic coverage, the user 92 may bring the coordinator computing device 107 through areas that are not covered by wireless data (such as a fall, valley, parking garage, and / or the like), or may have limited use Long-range wireless technology (such as WiFi). In this limited connectivity environment, the coordinator plan The computing device 107 can receive and store the auditable event items from the auditable camera 106, and once the data connection becomes available via the long-range wireless interface 310, it transmits it to the evidence management system 102.

The method 500 then proceeds to terminal A. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the actions described in blocks 520-524 are not blocking steps. Conversely, method 500 returns to terminal A upon receiving a signal indicating an auditable event (as described in block 508), even though the actions described in blocks 520-524 are being performed (or waiting to be performed). .

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an exemplary embodiment of a method for managing collected audit trail data according to various aspects of the present disclosure. From the start block, the method 600 proceeds to block 602, where the data collection engine 418 of the evidence management system 102 receives one or more auditable event items generated by the auditable device, such as the auditable camera 106, the auditable weapon 108, and / Or similar. The auditable event item may be received via the evidence collection base 104 as described in blocks 526-530 of method 500, or may be received via the coordinator computing device 107 as described in blocks 520-524 of method 500.

At block 604, the data collection engine 418 stores the auditable event items in the audit trail data storage area 416 of the evidence management system 102. At block 606, the data collection engine 418 receives one or more device data files generated by the auditable device and stores them in one or more device data storage areas of the evidence management system 102. For example In other words, video data can be stored in the video data storage area 412, and audio data can be stored in the audio data storage area 414. In some embodiments, video data and audio data can be stored in the same data storage area. In some embodiments, the data in the video data storage area 412 and the audio data storage area 414 may be stored separately, but may include links or other associations with each other so that they can be considered as a single unit. Device data files may be received using actions such as those described in block 530 of method 500.

At block 608, the data collection engine 418 determines one or more auditable event items from an audit trail data storage area 416 that should have a device data file matching but not in the device data storage area. For example, an emergency event may have been received and stored in the audit trail data storage area 416 instructing to start recording the event, but no video file associated with the event was found in the video data storage area 222. This judgment can help find situations in which the most important evidence is lost but can still be uploaded. This judgment can also provide proof that the existing video associated with the auditable camera 106 appears in the certificate management system 102. At block 610, the human-machine interface engine 420 of the evidence management system 102 generates an alert based on an auditable event item with a missing matching device data file. These auditable event items are those found in block 606. In some embodiments, the alert may include an email (e-mail) or text message upload reminder to the user 92 associated with the appropriate auditable device or to the user's supervisor. In some embodiments, the alert may include a report presented as a web page (or in another format) for groups of devices or device data files that have been lost over a period of time.

At block 612, the human-machine interface engine 420 retrieves information from the record management system 404 describing the incident and generates a timeline presentation of auditable events associated with the incident. Information about the incident may include, but is not limited to: the start time and end time of the incident; one or more geographic locations associated with the incident; one or more users 92 associated with the incident; and the user 92 associated with the incident 92 One or more auditable devices. Information about the incident can be used to find relevant auditable event items in the audit trail data storage area 416. The human-machine interface engine 420 queries the audit trail data storage area 416 to find related auditable event items, and places an indication of the auditable event on the time axis. In a timeline display, interaction with an auditable event indication or part of the timeline (such as clicking or tapping on that indication or part of the timeline) can cause data associated with the auditable event (Such as event details and / or associated data stored in video data storage area 412 and / or audio data storage area 414) are presented.

In block 614, the human-machine interface engine 420 generates one or more alarms from the audit trail data storage area 416 indicating an error with the auditable device based on the auditable event items. In some embodiments, the alert may be an email or SMS message sent to the user 92 associated with the auditable device. In some embodiments, alerts may be displayed in a summary list of errors from all devices managed by a given technical support professional or a given agent. In some embodiments, the auditable device data storage area 410 may be queried to determine the location or contact information of the associated user 92 in order to transmit an alert.

At block 616, the human-machine interface engine 420 generates a summary presentation of auditable events indicating errors across multiple auditable devices of a matching type. For example, a grand display can present a battery failure for all auditable cameras, regardless of the user. This total display can be presented to information technology management at the agent operating the auditable device, or can be aggregated for multiple agents and viewed by the proprietor of the evidence management system 102 and / or by the owner of the evidence management system 102 Developers of auditing devices view future versions to improve the engineering process or to update auditable devices.

The method 600 then proceeds to an end block and terminates. One of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that the steps of method 600 are presented sequentially for discussion purposes only. In some embodiments, the steps may be performed in any order, repeatedly, in parallel, and / or the like. Although it is understood that the data collection step occurs at some point before the first occurrence of the display step, it is still possible that for a single execution of the data collection step, the display step may occur multiple times, or the data collection step may occur without Occurs when the show step occurs.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an aspect of an exemplary computing device 700 suitable for use with the computing device of the present disclosure. While discussing multiple different types of computing devices herein, the exemplary computing device 700 describes various elements that are common to many different types of computing devices. While FIG. 7 is described with reference to a computing device built as a device on the network, the following description is applicable to servers, personal computers, mobile phones, smart phones, tablet computers, embedded computing devices, and Use to Other devices are built as part of the embodiments of this disclosure. Furthermore, those having ordinary knowledge in the art will recognize that the computing device 700 may be any of any number of devices currently available or to be developed.

In its most basic configuration, the computing device 700 includes at least one processor 702 and a system memory 704 connected by a communication bus 706. Depending on the exact configuration and type of the device, the system memory 704 can be volatile or non-volatile memory, such as read-only memory ("ROM"), random access memory ("RAM"), EEPROM , Flash memory, or similar memory technology. Those of ordinary skill in the art and others will recognize that system memory 704 typically stores data and / or program modules that are accessible to and / or currently operated by processor 702 group. In this regard, the processor 702 can serve as a computing center of the computing device 700 by supporting execution of instructions.

As further illustrated in FIG. 7, the computing device 700 may include a network interface 710 that includes one or more components for communicating with other devices on a network. The embodiments of the present disclosure have access to basic services that utilize a network interface 710 to communicate using a common network protocol. The network interface 710 may also include a wireless network interface, such as WiFi, 2G, 3G, LTE, WiMAX, Bluetooth, and / or the like, configured to communicate via one or more wireless communication protocols. As understood by one of ordinary skill in the art, the network interface 710 in FIG. 7 may represent one or more wireless interfaces or physical communication interfaces described and illustrated above with respect to specific components of the system 100.

In the exemplary embodiment depicted in FIG. 7, the computing device 700 also includes storage media 708. However, services may be accessed using a computing device that does not include a means for retaining data to a local storage medium. Therefore, the storage medium 708 depicted in FIG. 7 is represented by a dotted line to indicate that the storage medium 708 is selectable. In any event, any technology capable of storing information can be used to build storage media 708 volatile or non-volatile, removable or non-removable, such as but not limited to hard drive, solid state drive, CD ROM, DVD or other disc storage, tape cartridges, magnetic tapes, disk storage and / or the like.

As used herein, the term "computer-readable media" includes volatile or non-volatile removable and non-removable media built with any method or technology capable of storing information, such as computer-readable information Instructions, data structures, program modules, or other data. In this regard, the system memory 704 and the storage medium 708 depicted in FIG. 7 are merely examples of computer-readable media.

Suitable implementations of computing devices including processor 702, system memory 704, communication bus 706, storage medium 708, and network interface 710 are known and commercially available. For ease of illustration and because it is not important for understanding the requested subject, FIG. 7 does not illustrate some typical components of many computing devices. In this regard, the computing device 700 may include input devices such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, a microphone, a touch input device, a touch screen, a tablet, and / or the like. Such input devices may be coupled to the computing device 700 via wired or wireless connections, including RF, infrared, serial, parallel, Bluetooth, USB, or other suitable connection protocols using wireless or physical connections. Similarly, computing devices The 700 may also include output devices such as displays, speakers, printers, and the like. Since these devices are well known in the art, they are not further explained or described here.

While the illustrated embodiments have been illustrated and described, it will be understood that various changes can be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The foregoing description discusses preferred embodiments of the invention, which can be changed or modified as defined in the scope of the patent application without departing from the scope of the invention. The paradigms listed in Scratch Arc can be used instead or in any practical combination. As used in the description or the scope of the patent application, the words "comprising", "comprises", "including", "includes", "having" "And" has "open ended statements that introduce component structure and / or functionality. In the description and the scope of the patent application, the words "a" and "an" are used as indefinite articles, which means "one or more". When a descriptive word includes a series of nouns and / or adjectives, each successive word is intended to modify the overall combination of words that precede it. For example, a black dog house is meant to mean a house for black dogs. While several specific embodiments of the present invention have been described for the sake of clarity, the scope of the present invention is intended to be measured by the scope of patent applications set forth below. In the context of a patent application, the term "provided" is an article that is used to positively identify a component that is not a requested component of the present invention, but performs the function of a workpiece that cooperates with the claimed invention. For example, in the scope of The barrel equipment provided by Zhunyi includes: a casing, and the barrel is placed in the casing. "The barrel is not a requested component of the equipment, but is placed in the" shell "with the" equipment ". The "shell" fits the object. The invention includes any practical combination of the disclosed structures and methods. While several specific embodiments of the present invention have been described for the sake of clarity, the scope of the present invention is intended to be measured by the scope of patent applications set forth below.

Claims (22)

An auditable camera includes: a video sensor; a video data storage area configured to store video data generated by the video sensor; an audit trail data storage area configured to be stored and stored in the video data storage The video data in the area are separated into groups of auditable event items; the audit trail collection engine is configured to: respond to receiving notifications of events reported by the components of the auditable camera, and create a representative to store data in the audit trail The auditable event item for the event in the zone, where: the notification includes a signal received from the component prior to the creation of the auditable event item, the signal indicating the event; and the auditable event item includes an internal source derived from the signal Component information; and an audit trail reporting engine configured to: transmit one or more auditable event items from the audit trail data storage area to the evidence management system. For example, the auditable camera under the scope of patent application No. 1 includes a short-range wireless interface, in which the audit trail reporting engine is configured to: receive notification that an emergency auditable event item has been recorded in the audit trail data storage area; Establishing a communication channel with the coordinator computing device via the short-range wireless interface; and transmitting the emergency auditable event item to the coordinator computing device, wherein the coordinator computing device is carried by a user and configured to communicate with the coordinator Audit camera communication. For example, the auditable camera with the scope of patent application No. 2, wherein the short-range wireless interface includes at least one of a Bluetooth interface, a bee interface, an IrDA interface, an ANT interface, an ANT + interface, an 802.15.4 interface, an NFC interface and an RFID interface. . For example, the auditable camera in any one of the scope of application patents 1 to 3 further includes a physical base interface, wherein the audit trail reporting engine is configured to transmit the audit trail data storage area through the physical base interface. Audit event items to evidence management server. For example, the auditable camera according to item 4 of the patent application scope, wherein the camera is configured to transmit video data from the video data storage area to the evidence management server through the physical base interface. For example, the auditable camera in any one of the scope of patent applications 1 to 3 further includes at least one physical human-machine interface device, wherein the audit trajectory acquisition engine is configured to use the physical human-machine interface device to audit the trajectory data. Interactions are recorded as auditable events in the storage area. For example, the auditable cameras in any one of the scope of patent applications 1 to 3, further include: a certificate data storage area configured to store one or more digital signature certificates; and an audit trail signature engine configured to use The digital signature certificate in the voucher data storage area applies a digital signature to an auditable item in the audit trail data storage area. For example, the auditable camera of any one of the scope of patent applications 1 to 3, wherein the event includes a start recording event, a stop recording event, a pause recording event, a button press event, a battery failure event, a hardware failure event, and a battery charging status. At least one of a critical event, a storage error, a remaining storage critical event, an interactive event via a wireless interface, an interactive event via a physical base interface, a physical motion event, an environmental event, a geofence event, a drop event, and a debug event. A coordinator computing device includes: a short-range wireless interface; a long-range wireless interface; an auditable device communication engine configured to establish short-range communication between the coordinator computing device and an auditable device via the short-range wireless interface; Channel, where the auditable device maintains audit data; and receiving auditable event items from the auditable device via the short-range communication channel, wherein the auditable event items include only a subset of internal component information audited on the auditable device And after the auditable device has judged whether the event indicated in the auditable event item is an emergency or a non-emergency event, the auditable item is received at the auditable device communication engine; and the system communication engine, the group State: establishing a long-range communication channel between the coordinator computing device and the evidence management system via the long-range wireless interface, wherein the evidence management system is configured to collect information generated by the auditable device; and via the long-range The communication channel transmits the auditable event item to the evidence management system. For example, the coordinator computing device in the ninth scope of the patent application, further includes a human-machine interface device, which is configured to propose an interface for receiving information from the user to communicate with the evidence management system through the system communication engine. Auditable event item associations. For example, the coordinator computing device according to any one of claims 9 to 10 further includes a GPS sensor, wherein the system communication engine is further configured to transmit position information obtained from the GPS sensor to the evidence. The management system or the auditable device is associated with an auditable event item. For example, the coordinator computing device according to any one of claims 9 to 10, wherein the auditable device is at least one of a wearable camera, a car camera, a heart rate sensor, and a weapon. For example, the coordinator computing device according to any one of claims 9 to 10, wherein the coordinator computing device is a smart phone. For example, the coordinator computing device according to any one of claims 9 to 10, wherein the coordinator computing device is attached to a vehicle. An evidence management system including: a video data storage area configured to store video data received from a plurality of wearable cameras; an audit trail data storage area configured to store a plurality of auditable data generated by the plurality of wearable cameras An event item; and at least one computing device configured to provide: a data acquisition engine configured to: receive video data from a plurality of wearable cameras and store the video data in the video data storage area; and receive the video data from a plurality of An auditable event item generated by a wearable camera that is separate from the video data, the auditable event item includes internal component information, and the auditable event item is stored in the audit trail data storage area; and judged from the audit trail data storage area One or more auditable event items that do not have associated video data in the video data storage area; and a human-machine interface engine that is configured to have no association in the video data storage area based on the determination by the data collection engine The one or more auditable event items of the video data to generate an alert. For example, the evidence management system under the scope of patent application No. 15 further includes an auditable device data storage area configured to store identification information associated with each of the plurality of wearable cameras. For example, the evidence management system of any of the patent application scopes 15 to 16 further includes a computer-assisted distribution system interface configured to receive accident information from the computer-assisted distribution system; wherein the data collection engine is further configured to: The incident information received by the computer-aided dispatch system interface updates the video data in the video data storage area. For example, the evidence management system of any of the patent application scope items 15 to 16 further includes a record management system interface configured to communicate with the record management system, wherein the data collection engine is further configured to: The information received by the system interface updates the video data in the video data store. For example, the evidence management system of any of the patent application scope items 15 to 16 further includes a human-machine interface engine configured to generate a display of information stored by the evidence management system. For example, the evidence management system in the scope of application for patent No. 19, wherein the human-machine interface engine is configured to produce a timeline display of auditable event items and video associated with the accident. For example, the evidence management system in the scope of patent application No. 20, wherein the timeline display includes video and auditable event items captured by more than one wearable camera. For example, the evidence management system of the scope of application for patent No. 19, wherein the human-machine interface engine is configured to generate a total of auditable event items from the plurality of cameras indicating an error event occurred on the camera.